Failed uni students threaten hunger strike

Central Queensland University is holding urgent meetings with
some of its international students following threats of a hunger
strike over high failures rates.

About 160 mainly international students who failed their final
taxation law exam accuse the Rockhampton-based university of
testing them on information not covered in the course.

Some of the aggrieved students, mainly based in Sydney and
Melbourne, earlier this week threatened to go on a hunger strike if
their concerns weren't addressed.

They later withdrew their threats after CQU agreed to allow an
independent re-mark of the exam.

Several also criticised the university over a lack of
facilities, while others accused the institute of treating them
like "cash cows".

A total of 67 per cent of the 600 students who undertook the
$24,000 two-year taxation masters course failed the final exam.

CQU's Director of International Development and Services
Professor Debbie Clayton flew to Sydney today to meet students
protesting at the institute's Kent Street campus.

She said while CQU had bent over backwards to help the students,
it would not be blackmailed.

"We must maintain our academic standards," Prof Clayton
said.

"(Students) must pass their exams."

She said the university had been "very accommodating" in
agreeing to the re-mark, but admitted the failure rate had been
high.

"There was a high failure rate. This subject in tax is
notoriously a tough one across the sector," she said.

Prof Clayton said the gravity of the situation was compounded by
the fact many students were relying on passing the course to apply
for permanent visas to stay in Australia.

"Students who are in this country and wish to study and complete
all their programs in a set time and then apply for a permanent
residency in this country, certainly wish to take their studies in
the shortest time possible," she said.

"So that adds another dimension if they are looking at the
skilled migration pathway."

About half of CQU's 24,000 students are international, full-fee
paying students - the biggest proportion of international students
of any Australian university.

The foreign students are taught at the institute's city campuses
in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, while domestic
students mainly study at one of five regional Queensland
campuses.